New York, the 1950's. Uncle Joe had firmly reestablished himself in the streets and it was business as usual. He had set up connections in major cities across America and business was getting good. Joe had a multi-million dollar shy book, his numbers operation was in full swing and he would soon be starting a local sports book. Giving action on everything from boxing to soccer.

Uncle Joe was returning to the Bronx from a business venture in Los Angeles with his driver and partner in crime KennyRusso in his black 1948 Cadillac. While in Los Angeles Joe had taken notice of many Mafiosi who were engaged in the sale of narcotics. Uncle Joe had dabbled in the trade but hadn't engaged in any serious large scale deals. He had also noticed the vast amounts of money these men of honor were making and it got him thinking. New York didn't have any large wholesale importers of Heroin.

The view on drugs in La Cosa Nostra had long been deal and die due to the unwelcome attention drugs brought from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics but with all the potential money to be made many couldn't steer clear, they just wouldn't steer clear.

This included Uncle Joe.

Heroin seemed to be a very popular drug everywhere and wanting to get in on the trade Joe knew just where to get started.

Back in Uncle Joe's native Castellammare del Golfo in Sicily his father had been a man on honor with a powerful mafia clan, the Inzerillo crime family. The Inzerillo's were exporters of massive amounts of Heroin to the US. They brought in the raw Opiate base from Afghanistan and Sicilian chemists would process the base into the highest quality Heroin. They then used various methods to smuggle it off the island and to the intended destinations.

Reaching the Bronx, Uncle Joe told Kenny to pull over when saw a payphone. Joe wanted to make a call across the pond to a man he knew could help arrange everything, one of his closest childhood friends, Don Inzerillo's son and someday successor Giovanni Inzerillo.

Speaking in Sicilian, Uncle Joe let Giovanni in on his intentions of organizing huge trans-Atlantic shipments of Heroin into the ports of New York and potentially other key locations in the states.

Joe and Giovanni negotiated prices, shipping plans, distribution and personnel. Uncle Joe had managed to organize everything to his benefit and would now be importing the finest Heroin into the whole damn country. 

With great pleasure and with business aside Joe and Giovanni reminisced on their fond memories of playing in the nearby hills around Castellammare del Golfo. They spoke of their boyhood exploits and Vendettas too old to bother holding on to. 

Uncle Joe and Giovanni ended their phone call with a promise from Giovanni to visit the states in the not so distant future. Joe would look forward to that occasion. Both were enthusiastic from their conversation.

Joe stepped out of the phone booth and needed to walk to think. Starting off down the street wrestling with a mix of emotions, Joe thought on the one hand about all the money he was going to be making for himself and his crime family which was all Uncle Joe ever strived for and this new venture made Joe beam with excitement and pride but on the other hand Uncle Joe was afraid. 

Joe feared the unknown and was worried about getting caught by the FBN despite having many agents on the take.

The laws were stiff for drug dealers in the states, nobody wanted to do a hundred years in prison.

Uncle Joe wondered into a nearby bar for a strong drink. He was going to be very busy in the coming days and felt he had deserved some kind of celebration for his new business endeavor. As Joe sat there sipping his drink, he thought about who he would seek to involve in this endeavor and how he would approach them with such a lucrative yet taboo business. He hoped he would be able to get the other families throughout the various territories to become involved, Joe knew he needed help with distribution across the country and that there was plenty of money to be made all around. Uncle Joe would seek to enlist the aid of his closest friends and crew members. An operation on this scale was going to change things everywhere and Joe wanted to bring in the people he cared about most to reshape the landscape of the American Heroin market.

Uncle Joe took his last sip finishing his drink and headed to his bakery Salumeria Biellese. He was ready to unwind and play some much needed poker with his friends.

As StripheCorelli walked into the bakery he was immediately greeted and shook hands with a few large Italian bodyguards. He walked over to the one of his own bodyguards and whispered into his ear to take a few hours off as he with friends. You could hear the sounds of playing cards and chips being shuffled from the other room and he could hear a very familiar voice rumbling about money and business ideas. He knew that was his friend Joseph_Ligambi so he knew he was just on time for the game to start. 

He shook everyone's hand as he scanned the table to find which seat he thought was the best. He walked up to his friend Uncle Joe and shook his hand. 

My friend thanks for the invitation to the poker game tonight. I needed to get out of the HQ and and its been a while my friend. The place is great here and you know I always love a good game of poker.. and good business... money money money ya know'. Things have been going well out in Philly but you know I always love coming back to the big apple.

Striphe adjusted his tie a little bit, as he was in a suit today because he had been doing business deals on the east coast

You see Striphe was a bit of a gambler and superstitious. He had a bunch of things in his wardrobe which he considered lucky including his lucky pistol, money clip and he just happened to be wearing his lucky tie today. He was getting involved in the numbers game more and more and even was getting involved in some weekly poker stuff across the nation.

He noticed the seat that he wanted and he took a seat, stretching his back a bit before sitting. The limo ride over was a bit longer than he expected and it had been a few weeks since he had gotten a massage so his back was aching a bit. He considered hiring a beautiful lady to massage his back as soon as he won some money in this poker game. He knew the women loved his beautiful swimming pool at his HQ and often he would struggle to get them to leave.

As he heard more voices in the other room he kept his eyes on Uncle Joe because at some point tonight he wanted to talk to him about some business. He waited patiently to see who all was showing up and how the night would go down

The night was progressing nicely, and Uncle Joe was losing his ass on the table. He hadn't been this brutalized in a game of poker in quite some time, as it turned out @StripheCorelli was a formidable player, he was hard to read. One thing Ligambi could tell though was that Striphe wanted to discuss something. The players took a break and Uncle Joe made his way to the liquor cabinet to make himself a drink, followed closely by his friend Striphe. 

Uncle Joe offered Striphe a drink, which he gladly accepted. Not realizing that dear old Joe would make it extra stiff in a vain attempt to recoup some of his poker losses. Striphe took the drink and thanked Joe. Uncle Joe knew there was something on his mind so he cut to the chase.

"I can tell you want to talk about something, what's on your mind old friend.' Joe asked.

Uncle Joe stood there wondering what it could be, maybe his old friend from Philly had heard about all the Heroin he was bringing in and wanted a piece of the action.

As he sipped on the drink he swished it around in his glass while looking at it. You could see the reflection off the fine glassware from the lights in the bar. As he looked at the liquor and scanned the room he considered all of his current ventures, from part of a casino to his corner store. Striphe knew there was money out there to be made, but he was not sure where all to put his chips and he knew he always had to be careful as the FBI had informants everywhere and they were jealous bitches

He extended his hand to Joseph_Ligambi and shook his hand again as the two of them shared a drink. Striphe was sharing a story about one of the last poker games where his RHM was the winner and then about a recent business trip to the westcoast to to visit the warm beaches of Cali.

So you know friend I heard the rumors about you flooding the nation with heroin and I wanted to see if I could get in on the action, somehow. I had some stacks of cash always available and am looking for some less than legal investments with some high payouts. 

I have my store front and am open and flexible to making this work, and I know we share a lot of the same business partners around the nation to make this all a bit smoother from the east to the west coast. I know you had been working with my right hand man Madness on some numbers stuff so I just know its good to be back in touch my friend.

Striphe raised his glass up to his friend as he finished his drink. He started to look around to get another drink as he listened to the people talking and watched his friend ponder everything he said. Striphe could hear the other players chatting about their hands so far during the game, but Striphe was already thinking about how he would start to move the product inside his area of South Philly.. he found himself dazing off a bit as he was reminded about his empty drink 

Standing there listening to his friend Striphe as he poured him another stiff drink, Uncle Joe began to open up about the operation. Joe went on to explain that he had recently spoken to some friends of ours in the old country and that they were going to begin shipping large quantity's of the purest heroin the country has ever seen to Joe through the ports of New York. Joe went on to explain that due to his union influence down at the ports he would be able to bring the heroin in under the cover of dark and unload the containers to trucks that would then travel to various warehouses nearby where the product would be divided for distribution.

Uncle Joe was eager to distribute his product as far as he could, he was happy to hear that Striphe wanted in. Uncle Joe sipped his drink and went on to tell Striphe that he could guarantee delivery to him across the river without issues and at a fraction of the cost of the competition. Soon Striphe and Uncle Joe would be dominating the markets in New York and Philadelphia. After ironing out the plans, Uncle Joe and Striphe would continue to drink and discuss other business ventures. As the night came to an end and Striphe set out for Philly, Uncle Joe couldn't help but feel like this was going to be a solid business decision for the two.

Uncle Joe also couldn't help but think of who else he could involve in the operation, Uncle Joe wanted his heroin in every major state governed by the commission. It was only a matter of time before Joe would reach out to other prominent men and women of honor as far as Las Vegas, Las Angeles, Chicago and Detroit. Soon there would be enough Heroin coming in to supply every Mafiosi from New York to Timbuktu.

Arriving early to her office, Amira settled into her chair and began going through the mail and the stack of phone messages on her desk. One particular caught her attention, and she sat back and read over it with keen interest. It seemed that there was a rather formidable player in the heroine game coming up out of New York- and Mr. Corelli thought he might like the added comfort of Azra Securities seeing to the protection of his goods. The deal with Philly was coming together well, and the personnel for that operation had been hired and were nearly ready to deploy. the logistics were all but perfected, and equipment and vehicles were either arriving or set to arrive within the week. The first big test of Azra's shadow venture would lift off by the end of the month; but Amira had all confidence that it was going to go without a hitch.

So, she turned to the telephone and lifted the receiver, instructing the switchboard downstairs to dial the telephone number on the message. New York 75271- a man named Joseph Ligambi. Of course, she'd heard the name; all of the major players in the cities had at least heard of each other, and Amira was sure she'd heard Tyki mention him. 

The line clicked as the call was put through, and Amira went over her usual introduction speech in her mind while she waited for the line to pick up. 

It had been a busy couple of days for Uncle Joe, he had been in and out of meetings with various associates putting together distribution deals all over New York and the surrounding areas. His first load of heroin was brought in without an issue and he was already starting to see massive profits.

Uncle Joe was in his office for the day going over policy receipts for his numbers racket when he heard his phone ringing. Curious as to who might of been calling him as very few people had his number, he made his way to the telephone, picking up the phone.

"Hello, Ligambi speaking." He said, waiting to hear who was on the line.

Showtime. 

Amira's calm, zephyr-like voice, unique due to it's sharply pronounced English and discernable Middle-Eastern accent, came over the line with a pleasant greeting as she settled back in her chair. 

"Signore Ligambi, hello. Thank you for taking my call. My name is Amira Dayan from Azra Securities Incorporated in Los Angeles. Your friend, Signore Corelli, gave me your private line. He is one of our clients and he thought that our services might be of interest to you as well. Have you got a moment for me to give you a quick overview of what Azra can offer your business?"

It all sounded quite normal, because more likely than not, the phones were tapped. There was no need to hide names- the Feds knew who was talking to who- but the business had to be hidden. However, Joe Ligambi would at least know Amira's name. She was the Right Hand to the Godfather Chairman of Los Angeles; and while she didn't often leave California, her influence reached across boarders. That, and her name was still whispered in certain stories of particularly gruesome murders.